This invention relates generally to the packaging of synthetic yarn and more particularly to an improved apparatus for automatically doffing the equipment with which yarn advancing continuously from a source is wound on successive packages.
The doff-don servant of this invention generally is a power-driven, wheeled vehicle which interacts automatically with winders in a spinning area to doff completed yarn packages, insert empty bobbins on standby chucks of the winder, deliver the packages to an overhead powered conveyor, place the winder in position for another cycle and to move to another winder to repeat the operations.
The winders are of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,789,774, with a yarn transfer mechanism of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,310,247. The winder has double articulated arms which carry two bobbins alternately into surface driven contact with a drive roll. At the time of doff, the yarn transfer mechanism and deflector swings pneumatically to a position under the drive roll and under the standby (empty) bobbin where the mechanism effects transfer of the running yarn to the empty bobbin. In this operation, the yarn-carrying chuck and arms fall to a rest position where the chuck and package are braked. After subsequent (formerly manual) manipulation of arms and package for doffing and donning at a doff-don position, the double arm and chuck are rotated about 180.degree. to a park position above but out of contact with the drive roll in readiness for the next cycle.